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Commerce chief predicts Nigeria’s inflation to ease in 2024

Published

5 months ago

December 31, 2023

Nigeria’s inflation has been predicted to slow down in 2024, according to Gabriel Idahosa, President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In an interview, Idahosa attributed the acceleration of inflation this year to the removal of fuel subsidies. He observed that prices would start to decline in 2024 as a result of the steps governments at all levels were taking to address rising transport and logistics expenses in 2024.

Idahosa said, “Certain things were predictable when the President declared that the fuel subsidy was gone. We knew that there would be a spike in the price of fuel and everything else connected to fuel. But all the measures to reduce the cost of transportation have started.

“They will also take time to come into effect. It will take some time to get our CNG buses. CNG buses are already running from Abeokuta to Mowe and some parts of Edo State and transport fares are coming down in those locations.”

Idahosa argues that the country’s rising inflation will be reduced through a reduction in energy costs when the private Dangote refinery and the public Port Harcourt refinery begin production next year, which will have an impact on overall price levels.

He added, “So, we are going to get an aggregation of that across the country. Places like Borno and Bayelsa now have CNG buses and transportation is coming down in these places. So, between six and nine months, all the efforts to replace petrol as the primary source of transportation will begin to show results.”

The largest economy in Africa saw a worsening cost-of-living crisis in November as its annual inflation increased to 28.20%, the highest level in eighteen years.

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Nigeria’s inflation hits 28-year high of 33.69% in April

Published

19 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s consumer inflation reached a 28-year high of 33.69% in April, up from 33.20% in March, according to statistics agency figures released on Wednesday.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has slashed petrol and energy subsidies and devalued the local naira currency twice.

To manage pricing pressures, the central bank has hiked interest rates twice this year, including the highest hike in almost 17 years. The central bank governor has stated that rates will remain high for as long as necessary to reduce inflation. The bank will host another rate-setting meeting next week.

When compared to the previous year, the inflation rate in April 2024 was 11.47 percentage points more than in April 2023, when it stood at 22.22 percent. This implies that the headline inflation rate has increased dramatically during the last year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, food and nonalcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to inflation in April. Food inflation, which accounts for most of the inflation basket, rose to 40.53% yearly from 40.01% in March.

Price pressures have left millions of Nigerians facing the biggest cost-of-living crisis in decades, as they fight to satisfy their most basic necessities.

Tinubu has offered a 35% salary increase for state personnel to alleviate pressure on government workers. To assist disadvantaged households, his government has resumed a direct cash transfer program and provided at least 42,000 tons of grains such as corn and millet.

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Uganda discusses power line to South Sudan with China’s Sinohydro

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the president’s office, Uganda is in negotiations with Sinohydro Corporation Limited of China to build a $180 million power transmission line that would enable Uganda to export electricity to South Sudan, which is severely short on energy.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni received a group led by Vice President of Sinohydro Corporation Yang Yi Xin on Monday as part of the negotiations, according to a late-morning statement from Museveni’s office.

The project, according to the statement, will entail building a new substation and expanding two existing ones in addition to building a 138-kilometre high-voltage transmission line to provide power to South Sudan.

“We are very much willing to help develop this project with the required finance if needed,” Xin was quoted as telling the president.

The statement stated that Museveni endorsed Sinohydro’s proposal to carry out the project. Uganda and South Sudan inked a power sales deal in June of last year, enabling Uganda to sell electricity to South Sudan.

To enable Uganda to export electricity to South Sudan, the two nations inked a power sales deal in June of last year. The Chinese firm is completing a $1.5 billion, 600-megawatt hydropower project on the River Nile in Northern Uganda that is meant to be the source for electricity exports to South Sudan.